Will Ramaphosa Lead SA Next, Asks US News Agency

Chances are getting stronger that South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will be the next leader of the country, says powerful US financial news agency Bloomberg.

In a story today titled “Once Militant, Now Millionaire. Next Up: South Africa President?” journalists Michael Cohen and Amogelang Mbatha write that Ramaphosa is the only serving politician in South Africa who has led both a labour union and a business empire. “Now chances are rising that he’ll lead the country,” they conclude.

The fact that the Congress of South African Trade Unions last month “cautiously backed” Ramaphosa as the next leader of the African National Congress after Jacob Zuma should make him a shoo-in for the post, the report says.

“If Ramaphosa, 63, does triumph he’d face an economy that’s gone adrift under Zuma. The rand has hit record lows, the nation’s credit rating is on the brink of being downgraded to junk and violent protests are the order of the day. Public disgruntlement is growing about 25.5 percent unemployment and a lack of housing and decent education,” the writers say.

Read more of their story in Bloomberg here.